We woke up to a hard frost behind 10 Points, and realized that the overnight low was surely in the 20's. This meant our water filters were roached and needed to be tossed in the trash. The micro-filament filters we were using can't freeze or it destroys their effectiveness. Ernie had hot coffee and breakfast burritos ready for us, so no need to filter water on this morning. We had a super slow motion depart and took plenty of time to thaw and dry our gear. Our original plan had us doing day 10 lunch in Moriarty, but thanks to a pair of monstrous days we were 24 hours ahead of schedule. This meant we could ride to Moriarty and arrive by lunch, stop for the day and wake up the next morning still 20 miles ahead of schedule. It seemed like a no-brainer, so we declared the day a "rest day" and took a 90% paved route to Moriarty with a long downhill section. Tony spotted a car about 10 miles away, and yell's out the oft repeated "car up!" We almost died of laughter. It would be the second funniest thing he would say during the trip.

Not much to say about day 9 - it was an easy going fun day that felt more like vacation than a huge physical undertaking. We got to have more social interactions with people in NM than any day to date, or maybe even all of the days to that point combined. All hugely positive experiences and a much needed rest day.
-Andy

We made it to Moriarty by lunch and, now more than a full day ahead of schedule decided to call it a day. We got a room for us and a free room for our bikes at the Quality Inn. Huge shout out to to the hotel manager, Linda for taking such great care of us. We ate lunch at lisa's truck stop where they had great chili cheese burgers and enchiladas (Christmas style of course.) Afterwards we went to Sierra Blanco Brewing Company and got absolutely sauced on green chili lagers and a fine pilsners and the like. We attended a potluck at the Brewery and even got a great tour of the facility, where everyone was super nice. We took a 6 pack back to the room to order domino's. We slept poorly and woke up hungover but it was an easy day, all high points no low points.

"Welcome to the land of entrapment where you come for vacation and stay for probation."